With clubhouse sub-par, Cummaquid golfers weigh replacement

The Cummaquid Golf Club is teeing up plans to replace its clubhouse with a facility almost twice the size.

Edward F. Maroney

CUMMAQUID GOLF CLUB IMAGE

WATER’S NO HAZARD – In fact, it’s a benefit of the coastal location of Cummaquid Golf Club.

Permitting under way prior to vote of members

The Cummaquid Golf Club is teeing up plans to replace its clubhouse with a facility almost twice the size.

Centerville attorney John Kenney represented the Club Aug. 23 at town hall during a formal site plan review meeting.

“We have a proposal for a new clubhouse,” Kenney said in a telephone interview Aug. 21. “Our existing facility is showing its age in wear and tear.”

In anticipation of a vote on the project “within weeks” by the membership, Kenney said, the club is “proceeding with the permitting to stay in line to be able to tear down the existing clubhouse and construct the new one over the winter to minimize the impact on members.”

The club, which dates back to the 1890s, claims it’s the oldest on the Cape. Membership is fixed at 350.

CBT Associates of Boston, which Kenney says has experience with similar facilities, designed the new clubhouse layout at 21,089 square feet, nearly twice the existing 11,238 square feet.

The plan calls for “upgrades to septic, landscaping, grading, drainage, lighting and parking lot…” Kenney said the new building would be in the same location, just a bit farther back from the first tee.

The project will require visits to the Barnstable Old King’s Highway Historic District Committee and the zoning board of appeals.

A budget and final building plans are being developed for presentation to club members at an information meeting, which would be followed by another session for a vote.

At the Aug. 23 site plan meeting, Kenney submitted a letter from the Cape Cod Commission he said indicated that the proposed project did not qualify as a Development of Regional Impact and that the agency had no jurisdiction.

With architect Sean Malloy of Boston’s CBT firm, Kenney reviewed the project. A major change will be a new entrance about 300 feet farther south of the train tracks off Marstons Lane, with the current entrance being limited to service vehicles and fire vehicle access. There was a discussion of the proper location of drainage systems, with a suggestion from town officials that some be relocated.

Some seemingly minor concerns could have major consequences. Building Commissioner Tom Perry said the town is encouraging developers to keep mulch beds at least 10 feet away from buildings following “a number of fires in the past couple of years (when) whole buildings were lost because of mulch. It dries out in the summer and catches fire.”

The new clubhouse’s increased size prompted questions about expanded use of the facilities for functions, but Kenney said the club was limited to use by members and that functions are “not encouraged.”

The club is a pre-existing, non-conforming use in a residential zone, which allowed Perry to have a little fun with Kenney. “You’re tearing the building down,” he said with a smile, “eliminating the use for a time.”

“We’ll have a little hot dog stand,” said Kenney, to general laughter.

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